9/11 Presentation

     As we moved on to our third project about informative speeches everyone had a pretty good idea of how to prepare for it. All groups were given a topic to speak and provide information about. Like in our last project about the election, we had to prepare an informative video about our topics. Professor Sinkoff provided some topic ideas for us that we can use for our project, of course it was our decision with what we wanted to talk about. In our first project about the chapter presentations, we learned how to actually research and prepare an informative speech, so we all went into this project with the right knowledge of what to do and how to organize it. 

Professor Sinkoff gave us the idea to talk about 9/11 as our topic. The group and I were really intrigued and excited with the topic she chose for us so of course we decided to prepare an informative presentation about it. Since 9/11 was such a traumatic event and covered so many key details that led up to it, it was a perfect topic to use. We wanted to avoid being too repetitive when speaking about 9/11 since almost everyone knows what happened. We basically had to research and cover information that our professor and our fellow classmates didn’t know about.  For example, I covered what the first articles said happened on that day and the overall news coverage of the event. I even got to learn stuff that I never even knew. I was surprised to find out that most of the live programs that showcased 9/11 on television once it happened weren’t even accurate. Most mainstream programs were hiding information from viewers and weren’t accurate with the information they were putting out to everyone. The people who knew what actually happened, were the people that were actually present when the event had occurred. 

The other two groups did just as much of an amazing job as we did. Each of their presentations included a lot of good information and really managed to keep the whole class engaged. Group 3 was my favorite group because they talked about the spread of the  corona virus and how it’s affecting our daily lives. Since their topic was about the current pandemic, it drew everyone’s attention immediately because we are still learning how to deal with it. They didn’t just inform us about what was going on, instead they talked about the impact it had on us and other resources like our economy. I was so surprised to see the effect this virus actually had on us and the amount of damage it caused. It made me realize how hard it will actually be to bounce back to how we used to live before.   

Once again working with my group couldn’t have gone any better. Everyone was very helpful, and we all put together a really great presentation that kept the professor and our classmates involved. I am very satisfied with the outcome and I know that without everyone’s team effort we wouldn’t have been able to deliver such a superb video presentation.   

  Liz Almarall

                                             Second project

Our second presentation is already done, and I can tell that went better than the first one. This time we were presenting an Election Mater Event. We received Dr.Molina's class help and also they were present during the presentation. They provided us information and some questions to answer. Like last time we were three groups, each one with a different topic.

I was part of group number one. We did seven minutes video presentation about how college students are involved with the community. I specifically talked about how higher education empowers student voters .This was an interesting topic because educational centers are able to influence students in many aspects .Also, after the video, we answered some of the questions that Molina's class provided us. We were covering the subtopic of civic engagement among college students. I think that we made very clear our ideas. Everyone participated and the professor's words at the end of the presentation were "Excellent job".

Group number two did a good job. At the beginning, they had some technical issues, but after were fixed, their presentation got better, and they were able to talk about their topic. They demonstrated their hard work and their effort put into this project.

The last group to present was number three. They were very organized and clear, making easy the understanding of their topic to everyone. Just like last time, group three surprised the class with their project. They didn't present any technical issue, and we can say that their video was super good.

This project was very exciting. Although the presentations were no face to face, I think that we were able to make this project a good experience. The topic of each group covered important information for the community. I feel that it also encouraged people to go out and vote.

Bryan Alvarez--Civic Engagement analysis

 

Civic Engagement

Bryan Alvarez

      Civic engagement is really important especially in today's times. Americas youth is the majority of the population and are really important when it comes to their civic duties. This fact cannot be stressed enough in the modern ages of our time when everything has become so complex and advanced. Our class participated in an event to promote civic engagement and show everyone who participated important information and facts. We where also joined by Dr. Molina who gave us her point of view and opinion on the matter and that helped us get a much better look at the topic that we're given. 

      Group 1 which was the group I participated did an amazing job and I couldn't be happier with the results. Everybody put their hard work in and we all helped each other when we needed it to make sure the presentation as great as possible. The assortment of information we used was as diverse and colorful as it could be to tackle as many sub topics as possible with the appropriate information so that the message can be delivered and understood as best as possible for everyone who attended or does who would see the information elsewhere.

      Group 2 did an amazing job with their topic in all ways possible. The work and effort in their presentation was immediately visible when they started. The information they presented was broad and easily understandable to everyone in the audience. There presentation went smooth and without any hiccups. They really showed how well they understood there topic with all the facts and information they brought to the table for the event. Overall group 2 did an amazing job with their presentation and showed the fruits of their hard work.

      Group 3 did a wonderful job in presenting their topic which was the civic role in children. It may seem weird of a topic at first but the information and facts they brought us shined us a new light in which even children can play an important role for civic duties in the future. There presentation went smoothly and with no issues at all. They provided the audience with plenty of information and each piece of it was explained properly and in a way where everybody can understand it. Overall they did an amazing job and there topic was perfectly executed in the event.

      Overall the event and everyone's presentations where a major success in my opinion. I feel like we completed our objective which was to promote civic engagement and teach the in's and outs, the important fact and just overall just show the different perspectives of such an important topic on a really important event. I had a great experience with this event. I myself was enlightened to new ideas and concepts and I can't wait to apply them or share them with somebody else.

      

Jose Sarabia--Civic Engagement Reflection

 

We don’t usually get to have experiences like the ones we have in our speech class in other classes; in fact, the other ones have been beyond boring in comparison to this one. It actually feels like I’m learning something with all of these interactions with my classmates, whilst in the other one we’re just being given busy work for the usual grades and whatnot; your typical classes. Once again, I am thankful to have great classmates in my team whom I can work with to achieve the goal of becoming a better speaker from here, moving forward; the group leaders as well, Sophia for being a great individual and helping everyone out not only with edits, but even directions, alongside our professor and the other psychology class as well. Without them, none of this would’ve been capable of turning out the way it did; a great lecture and event hosted by everyone as a whole. The rest of the teams also did a wonderful job on their part, explaining everything correlating to the topics we were given which had to do with elections. Yes, elections always have and will be a very important topic; especially considering how we’re living in the United States of America; where we elect our leaders for the betterment of our states and country. No matter who, everyone living in and contributing to this country should have the opportunity to vote; and while the younger generation can’t necessarily vote right now, they should at least be aware that they can—be taught that while their votes may only be one, as long as they all vote, then they can surely make one massive difference and a great impact, since it not only helps people in the long run, but it also helps people’s mental health and wellbeing as well. Civic engagement should be taught everywhere people are being educated and it should be a topic everyone needs to get involved in, so long as they’re capable of delving into the more political aspects of things. The future is in our hands, and our generation needs to uphold greatness in spite of all potential hardships that could come along the way—however we can also learn from hardships and what mistakes we make, in order to shed light and proper examples so that our future generations could follow suite. And that’s where our subtopic came in; the involvement of individuals in the communities and the difference people can make when they are more involved in elections. All in all, despite there being a slight learning curve in the whole video editing and how to come up with a short speech; it all worked out well in the end for everyone. Once again, I thank everyone who participated in the group discussions and I hope I can continue participating in these speech projects with my group in the long run. These experiences are the best.

Jennica Figueredo--Civic Engagement

Jennica Figueredo

I am very grateful to be in this class and improve every day in this beautiful experience. This project taught us a lot and transmitted us experience and the great importance of voting and how each vote counts and from a very young age our parents must teach us our rights as citizens that privilege no one will never be able to remove them. Each team made a beautiful project well-prepared and with a very fluent communication, I think we surprised our guesses as well as I was surprised by the fabulous work that each group does. My team is a fairly united team, we have a good leader and the truth is that it is always very easy for us to communicate, we all agree and each one gives ideas and together we achieve it and make everything much easier From these projects I learned many things that I did not know and I value much more the importance of the vote of each person and how important it is that you yourself can choose your president. Put in our hands an importance that decides the future of each one of us. Not every country has that privilege, it was a new experience for each of us because there were many people watching, it was very impressive to see so many people entering the class, it was very nervous but each of us knew how to put our nerves aside and make everything was perfect, each one did a spectacular job, thanks to our professor for being their always and be supportive and be the best. I really liked the idea of ​​making videos because I'm very nervous and with all those people who were there the truth was going to panic, and I was going to forget everything I had to talk and the truth was going to be a moment a little difficult for me it is quite difficult for me to speak in public thanks to this class that fear have been overcome it a bit but there are still nerves in me. The first presentation was still spectacular but this one I already feel that we have been improving that there was more practice more confidence in this I saw the project much more prepared, although they have both been fabulous and I hope they all continue to go out together with my group mates who really can't stop saying how great they are, and we form a good team together. In closing, I hope that we continue to do a good job and surprise ourselves at each project and learn more about each of us and what each of us has to offer. I will never regret the decision to have taken this class, and I am sure that everyone thinks the same as me.

Karla Cruz--Election reflection

karla cruz 

In the last presentation we touch the topic of elections and the involvement of diferent generational groups( young kids, college students, adults). The diferent reaction, involvement and impact of each group to the electoral proces and viceversa, the impact of the electoral proces to the formed mention groups was the central subject of the presentation. 

My group was in charge to discuss college students. It is funny being part of the group you are investigating and as result of the assignment my perspective of the election suffer a change. In previous semester i worked together whit one of the organization mentioned in the presentation closer to the previous election, so i already had an idea of how college students were a big part of the population that did not participate actively in the electoral process. But in recent years the use of social media has made them more active and involved in the process. Coworkers and friends in the same age range or younger would stay informed of the polls on social media. Election day while at work we would pop out to check the status on our phones, and a personal experience was being in a line buying groceries checking the numbers on youtube live and the cashier asking to see, he was 20 at most. This presentation made me more aware of my experience and the experience of the people around me. Is hard not to be remainded of the topic of the presentation when my 8 year old little sister came to me exited that she voted. The need to have the younger generation more involved and active on the process is more and more evident each passing day. The values of the word change and this change should be reflected on the líder we chose. This is becoming a more diverse and include word and what it was common sense years before it is no more. The college students( young adults) are taking over generationally speaking and they have to be more involved in a process that at the end reflects on every aspect of their lives.

The making of the video presentation was a funny experience. Thanks to Sophia for helping us and teaching us how to use the program to edit the video. We kept on contact all the time and to say that we exchanged 100 of messages would not be an exaggeration, we wanted to be coordinated above it all. It made the presentation process so much easier because having a video ensured that we would not go over the required time limit, that is not easy to keep. The fact that you have to fill a especific time sounds overwhelming at the beginning but once you start to talk realice that is in fact  not enough and i ended up having to compress the contents of what i need it to say to fit the time, that ended up being a good thing making my points concise and to the point.  

Victoria Alvarez--Civic Engagement Reflection

For our second presentation, Professor Sherri believed in our abilities enough to suggest we host an Elections Matter event for citizens’ rights and responsibilities that would pertain to this year’s upcoming and future elections to come. For this presentation, we not only worked alongside our fellow group members but also with a group of psychology students and their Professor Dr. Molina from Miami Dade College. It was through the use of the research and questions that they provided; we were able to create such fantastic presentations. Their research highlighted the psychological aspects that pertain to the election. The main goal of this event was to convince our audience to become more civically engaged in our community. For my group at least, we wanted to leave our audience (mainly, college students) with a new perspective on civic engagement and their rights, to see it as not as this insignificant thing but as a way where our voice can be heard. Now is our time, many college students and young adults do not realize how their vote can change the outcome of our election.

Furthermore, we need to know our rights so that we can build a future that we can proudly be a part of. For this presentation, we had to create a 7- minute video presentation that would still engage our audience and get our message across whilst still maintaining a certain level of professionalism. Within our presentation, we discussed the mental and physical aspects of civic engagement amongst college students. Using Dr. Molina’s class research, we were able to provide a glimpse as to the phycological aspects of the electoral process as on college students. Our main goal was to convince students to become more involved in their communities and elections, so I broke down how their vote and their engagement civically really do have an impact by using charts and graphs. I wanted to give more of a visual presentation rather than just giving the audience facts because I know from personal experience that I tend to remember things more when I see them physically. I wanted to shine a light on how only 16% percentage of the youth turned out to vote which is a dramatic difference from voters over 55 whose voting rate is 63%. I wanted to show to my audience how if young voters were able to match that percentage (and we could in terms of numbers) then we could control the outcome of the elections. 

Two other groups presented, and they gave very informative and compelling presentations as well. Group 2 talked about civic engagement within school-age children and their rights and responsibilities around elections. They provided us with an in-depth understanding of their topic and gave us an outstanding overall from the very beginning to the last second of their presentation. Group 3 also had a phenomenal presentation. Surpassing all expectations, they provided us with a presentation that combined two sub-topics and discussed civic engagements amongst teachers and students whilst still considering minorities and underprivileged people of color.

Being a part of this kind of event allows you to realize the impact misinformation or lack of knowledge has on our society. The main objective of my group was to provide our audience with an informative presentation so that if they were paying attention for the whole presentation or 2 mins, they still were able to walk away knowing something they did not know before. Remember, we are the future. We hold the power and there are people out there who want to silence us and prevent us from realizing our true capabilities so go out and vote.

Victoria Alvarez

Javier Collado--Civic Engagement and Mental Wellbeing

    Yet again, another amazing presentation done by me and my classmates. For this particular presentation my group and I had to make a video where we spoke about civic engagement and how it impacts college students in a daily basis. This time it was a little different from the first one, because we had to make a video as our presentation where we inform our classmates of the particular topics. It was a different experience for me, because it was my first time editing a video and adding PowerPoint slides in the video as background, I also just want to say thank you to my fellow classmate Sofia for showing us how to properly edit our videos. Since, it was y first time editing an actual video, it was pretty difficult task to do, it took me a few hours to get it done. At the end of it all, my team and I did an amazing job on delivering our presentations. This type of presentation is something that I wouldn’t mind doing again, because it was definitely out of my comfort zone and it was a learning and challenging experience for me and I’m sure that it was also for the majority of my group members. I am so grateful to have chosen this course, I mean as we move forward in the course, I just see myself becoming a better and more confidence public speaker. Something that I never thought in a million years, I was going to accomplish. 

    

     The other two groups did an amazing job as well. We all work hard as a class. It was a very informative presentation each of the other group gave us something different to think about, I mean all of us spoke about why civic engagement is an important topic whether if it affects the mental well-being of college students or any other issue that it correlates to civic engagement being that is such a broad topic. Furthermore, I just want to say thank you to Dr. Molina’s students for providing us with some of their research which was absolutely helpful, and a well-done research and I also want to thank them for attending our amazing event and helping us with anything we needed. I also want to say thank you to our class leaders: Kaitlyn, Pablo, and Adriana for being there for all of us through the whole process. I am so thankful for having Sinkoff as my Public speaking professor, she is such an amazing human being with a huge heart for her students. Also, I just want to say thank you for everybody else that attended the event, every student and Miami-Dade college staff, I hope that they were informed enough about the importance of being civically engaged as a college student or an adult. Overall, the event turned out as plan, we had fun and we were in formed of different things related to being civically engaged, I definitely wouldn’t mind doing something similar to this presentation again. Great Job SPC2608!

Albert Labrada--Citizen rights and Responsibilities

                                                            Vote

The “Citizens rights and Responsibilities” event was without a doubt an incredible feat by professor Sinkoff, our class leaders, and the groups themselves. At one point, there were a total of 83 individuals in the session ready to observe the work that we had prepared during the last couple of weeks. Dr. Molina’s insight, as well as her own class, added welcoming information that served the overall purpose of the event.  I know I said it on my last blog, but it needs to be mentioned once more, teamwork makes the dreamwork; the communication between class members, leaders, and professors resulted in an overall smooth presentation that went according to plan.

I couldn’t be any prouder of Group 1, ever since our last project I already new of how responsible and dedicated each member was, and the realization of this presentation just further strengthened this believe. Up until the last week before presenting we had been actively communicating with each other, strategizing and brainstorming the various ways in which the presentation could be enhanced. Solidarity also played an essential factor within the members of our group; if possible, someone would step up and help a fellow teammate that was unable or lacked the necessary resources to realize a specific task. Members such as Victoria and Sofia also took it upon themselves to make important decisions, contribute needed ideas, and offer their time for the success of the team. Overall, Group 1’s presentation on College students and Civic engagement provided a throughout assessment on the impact of civically engaged college students/adolescents. I also wanted to thank our class leader Kaitlin for opening our project as well as for her feedback.

Moving up to Group 2, their presentation was pleasantly surprising. Even though they had not shown much of their progress in the weeks leading up to the presentation, I was please to observe the hard work that went into creating their project. Regardless of the event being online I’m sure that every group was aware of the magnitude and importance of this occasion. From the brochure, all the way until the q&a section, Group 2 demonstrated a vast understanding of their topic and were able to communicate this knowledge to all the individuals present.

Once again Group 3 exceeded expectations. They presented a well-formed and detail brochure that comprised the talking points of their research. The structure and organization in which the videos were exhibited showed how much thinking they devoted to maximizing the soundness and quality of their work; It made it easier to understand and digest the role of civic engagement in children and its importance.

Undoubtedly, this event was a big-time accomplishment. The topics discussed by each group were all equally important, not only to the individual but to the community. Events like this one contain the power of changing the world; I know that due to all the research done on the weeks leading up to that day influenced me to go out there and vote. And if my mind was changed then who knows how many more were affected as well.

 

Sofia Sasson--Elections Matter Event

Once the first project was completed in our Public Speaking class, we moved onto our second big project. Our class was going to prepare and host an Elections Matter event for citizens’ rights and responsibilities for this year’s upcoming and future elections. This event was a part of our service-learning project, so it consisted of us inviting guests and sharing our research and thoughts with a group of college students and colleagues remotely. Professor Sinkoff helped us organize and gather research for each of our subtopics.  We were also working alongside a psychology class and their professor Dr. Molina at Miami Dade College. They provided us with additional research about the psychological aspect to add to our presentation so we would be better equipped when speaking about certain topics. This “Citizen rights and responsibilities” project was designed by our class to share our research and thoughts about the assigned topic we got. We were striving to encourage the guests attending our event to become more involved in their community. In reality not many students or young adults in general know how much of a difference or impact they have when it comes to voting. Some may think they don’t have a voice or a chance to make a change at all. We wanted to educate these future leaders and be the ones to influence them to be a part of the movement.

Our group was covering the subtopic of civic engagement of college students and their rights and responsibilities for the election and why it matters. All groups had to create and construct a 7-minute visual video presentation to make it more professional and to stay within the time frame of the event.  In the presentation we had to also include their self-esteem, families, and communities. Since our class was working with Dr Molina’s psychology class, we used some of their research to explain more in depth the psychological aspects of elections in regard to college students. This helped with our speeches as well, since we wanted to make the audience feel comfortable while also encouraging and motivating them to be a part of the election. 

Since we wanted the students to become more involved, I wanted to speak about this voting organization called “Engage Miami”. I decided to talk about this organization because I felt it was a very good and useful resource for college students especially. They go around different Miami Dade county campuses and help students register to vote. Most college students don’t know how to register, and Engage Miami strives to help and educate young adults on voting.  For every student that they register, more than 90 percent of them reliably turn out for every single election. I can confirm that because they actually registered me, and I’ve been voting at every single election ever since. They really showed me the importance of my voice and I knew I had to share that experience in this event. 

    The two other groups in the class did just as an amazing job as we did. Each of their presentations were really informative and gave us a lot to think about. Group 2 talked about civic engagement within school age children and their rights and responsibilities for the election. And Group 3 combined two sub-topics together and talked about civic engagement for teachers and students, along with underserved communities of color and minorities, and their rights and responsibilities for the election. With such great subtopics, both groups were able to expand on each one of them very clearly and the audience was really engaged. Our class leaders did a great job as well with hosting this great event and making sure everything went smoothly. 

Getting to be a part of such a big and inspiring event made me feel like I was serving my community in the right way. My group and I prepared such an informative and uplifting presentation. And I have no doubt that anyone who attended the presentation didn’t get something out of it. The purpose of this event was to show to everyone that they have the ability to be heard and that our generation is the future. We are the ones that have to use our voices to make a change. 

 Hi guys,

I wasn't able to post after each person's text because of the way it was set up.  I think you all did a fabulous job and I really loved the blogs!

Sherri

SPC2608 First Presentation

     Just last week, my group and I (group 1) presented our first presentation for our SPC2608 class. I am not going to lie, I was slightly nervous because being at home is very unpredictable. My grandma lives with me and is home doing her own thing and tends to make a great deal of noise. Before every class I have to remind her that I will be in a class and she cannot make too much of a racket because I will not hear the lessons and instructions from my professor. 

    I think our group did fantastic. Everything we put together came out flawlessly and our presentations were finished in due time as well. I was in charge of pretty much the end of the chapters that we were in charge of presenting which had to do with understanding the demographic that you will be presenting to. I included detailed yet simplistic information into my presentation and I used the iSpeak book from our lecture. 

    I should also give credit to the other groups of presenters. I feel like I am learning a significant amount in this class that I will not be able to obtain anywhere else with the help of my fellow classmates.